The Cengage/McGraw-Hill Merger: A Message for ICBA Members

The Cengage/McGraw-Hill Merger: A Message for ICBA Members

You may have heard the big news about the proposed Cengage/McGraw-Hill merger. With Cengage and McGraw being strong supporters of ICBA, we were able to speak with Kevin Carlsten, VP of Channel Strategy and Operations at Cengage, and asked him to provide ICBA Members with an update…he was glad to share the following:

As valued Cengage partners and Members of ICBA, we are reaching out to follow up on the recent announcement that Cengage reached an agreement to merge with McGraw-Hill Education.

We expect the merger to close in early 2020. Until that time, it is business as usual for us, our customers, and for partners like you.

The merger brings great potential as it will enable us to drive benefits both for students and for faculty in four key areas:

First, it will expand access to best in class content, giving students in higher education greater access to the quality learning materials they need to succeed – regardless of their socioeconomic status or the institution they attend

Second, the combined company will offer proven digital platforms and create even better user experiences for all students globally, delivering seamless integration with other platforms, tools and applications, as well as with our bookstore partners to optimize the student path to content

Third, it strengthens our commitment to high-quality, affordable solutions, including an expansion of our Inclusive Access and Unlimited programs

We will continue to offer Cengage Unlimited, so students can enjoy the benefits of access to 22,000 digital products across 675 course areas in one place, one price. With 1 million subscribers, Cengage Unlimited has saved students $60M+ since launch, and will continue to reduce costs for students into the future.

After the merger closes, we have the opportunity to expand the Unlimited offering with McGraw-Hill.

And fourth, the combined company will have the scale and resources to invest in emerging technologies, next generation products and new types of service. These investments would help to improve student learning outcomes, support faculty in many ways, and provide institutions with enhanced levels of support.

Until the transaction closes, we want to assure you of the following:

For Cengage, it is business as usual. This means nothing changes with respect to our relationship. We remain committed to our partnership and look forward to continuing to drive learning outcomes, value and affordability to students.

We will continue to support you as we do today. Nothing changes with respect to your key contacts here at Cengage.

You have our commitment that we will share information and updates directly with you when we can.

You may have questions - we encourage you to visit BetterLearningTogether.com where we provide more information and FAQs, and feel free to reach out to us, as always.

We continue to appreciate your partnership, and look forward to making it even better together.